1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to a wireless power transmission (transmission/reception) technology (Wireless Power Technology, WPT or Wireless Energy Transfer) applied to a wireless charging technology and to a method and apparatus for controlling wireless charging according to a user environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the like, is powered by a rechargeable battery due to the portable nature of the terminal, and electric energy is supplied to the battery of the mobile terminal by using a separate charging apparatus in order to charge the battery. Usually, the charging apparatus and the battery have separate contact terminals on the outside of the mobile terminal and are electrically connected to each other by mutual contact between the contact terminals. However, in such a contact-type charging arrangement, the contact terminals protrude outwardly, and thus are easily contaminated by foreign substances. As a result, battery charging is not correctly performed. Further, since the structure of a connector including the contact terminals differs between manufacturers of individual terminals and between nations, a charger corresponding to the connector of the terminal must be used for charging. A wireless charging or contactless charging technology can solve such problems. Such a wireless charging technology uses the wireless power transmission technology and the wireless power transmission technology refers to a technology that can transmit power without wires.
In the wireless charging technology, an electromagnetic induction scheme using a coil and a resonance scheme has emerged. In addition, an RF/Micro Wave Radiation scheme, which converts electric energy to a microwave and transmits the microwave has emerged. A power transmission method using electromagnetic induction corresponds to a scheme of transmitting power between a first coil of a transmission apparatus and a second coil of a reception apparatus. The resonance scheme corresponds to a scheme using a frequency resonance technology between the transmission apparatus and the reception apparatus, using a predetermined resonant frequency, and has the advantage of enabling a relatively-remote wireless power transmission, compared with the electromagnetic induction scheme.
The above-mentioned wireless charging technology is a very promising field thanks to the rapid increase of mobile terminal technologies and the extensive supply of various application products, but has problems relating to frequency allocation, potentially negative influences on a human body and the like. For example, as power transmission capacity becomes larger and the transmission distance becomes further, it is more likely that a human body is harmfully affected by exposure to an electromagnetic wave. Further, when other functions of a mobile terminal are used while wireless charging is being performing, a malfunction of the mobile terminal or user inconvenience may be caused due to the wireless charging electromagnetic wave.